System And Method For Sharing Playlists

ABSTRACT

A system for sharing playlists utilizes a network, such as the Internet. A player device other than a general purpose computer, such as a dedicated media player or a remote control for a dedicated media player, is configured to communicate a playlist to a wireless handheld remote control associated with and separate from the media player device, the playlist having been received from a remote source. At least one item identifier included in the playlist is received from the wireless handheld remote control. At least one item identified by the at least one item identifier is rendered.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/555,557, filed Jul. 23, 2012, entitled, “SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR SHARING PLAYLISTS,” which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/114,286, filed May 2, 2008, entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SHARING PLAYLISTS,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,099,which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,110,filed May 5, 2004, entitled “METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OBTAINING A PLAYLISTBASED ON USER PROFILE MATCHING,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,028,038, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Thispatent application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/840,104, filed May 5, 2004, entitled “HYBRID SET-TOP BOX FOR DIGITALENTERTAINMENT NETWORK,” now abandoned; U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/840,109, filed May 5, 2004, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EMPLOYINGA FIRST DEVICE TO DIRECT A NETWORKED AUDIO DEVICE TO OBTAIN A MEDIAITEM,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,028,323; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/207,113, filed Aug. 10, 2011, entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM, ANDCOMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM FOR EMPLOYING A FIRST DEVICE TO DIRECT ANETWORKED AUDIO DEVICE TO RENDER A PLAYLIST,” now U.S. Pat. No.8,214,873; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/539,923, filed Jul. 2,2012, entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM FOREMPLOYING A FIRST DEVICE TO DIRECT A NETWORKED AUDIO DEVICE TO RENDER APLAYLIST;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,108, filed May 5,2004, entitled “DEVICE DISCOVERY FOR DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK;”U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/114,273, filed May 2, 2008, entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SHARING PLAYLISTS,” now abandoned, which is adivisional of the above-referenced U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/840,110; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/019,015, filed Jan.24, 2008, entitled “DEVICE DISCOVERY FOR DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK,”which is a divisional of the above-referenced U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/840,108, each of which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the sharing of playlists. Thepresent invention relates more particularly to a system and method forsharing playlists wherein a dedicated media player is configured toreceive, store, and display playlists and to play selections fromplaylists.

BACKGROUND

Playlists for music and movies are well known. A playlist is a list of auser's favorite selections. Popular personal computer (PC) media playingprograms, such as Windows Media Player (a trademark of MicrosoftCorporation), offer the capability for a user to compile a playlist. Theuser may subsequently select items to be played from the playlist andthe media playing program then plays the selected items. The use of sucha playlist simplifies the selection process and thus makes listening tomusic or viewing movies easier and more enjoyable.

Typically, such selection is accomplished by viewing a playlist withinthe media playing program and by designating which selection is to beplayed. The selection to be played may be designated by clicking on itwith a mouse, for example.

Playlists also facilitate the playing of a plurality of selections in aparticular order. That is, the playlist may be compiled in an order inwhich the playing of selections therefrom is desired. The selections maythen be automatically played sequentially from the playlist. Typically,selections may also be played randomly from a playlist.

Playlists are typically compiled by reviewing a list of selectionsavailable for play and then choosing those selections that the userwould like to have on the playlist. Thus, a user may review songs thatare stored on a personal computer's hard drive and compile a playlisttherefrom, for example.

The playlist may subsequently be edited or updated as new selectionsbecome available and/or the user's preferences change. Thus, a user'splaylist may reflect a group of selections that was compiled over anextended length of time, such as several years.

The sharing of playlists is also known. Popular file sharing programs,such as Kazaa (a trademark of Sharman Networks), facilitate the sharingof playlists. Using such systems, it is possible for a user to downloada list of songs or movies that another individual has compiled. Thislist may then be used to make or modify a playlist for the user.

Although such playlists and playlist sharing systems have provengenerally suitable for their intended purposes, they possess inherentdeficiencies, which detract from their overall effectiveness anddesirability. For example, according to contemporary methodology,playlists are only communicated to and used with general purposecomputers, such as IBM compatible personal computers (PCs) and Applecomputers.

Further, there is no contemporary system for easily identifying peoplewho have similar interest, such that their playlist can be downloaded.Rather, according to contemporary methodology, playlists are obtained bysearching on keywords, such as the titles of selections contained withinthe playlists. However, the mere fact that the person's playlist has aparticular selection in it does not necessarily mean that the playlistcontains other selections that a user may enjoy.

As such, although the prior art has recognized, to a limited extent, theproblems of finding and using playlists, the proposed solutions have, todate, been ineffective in providing a satisfactory remedy. Therefore, itis desirable to provide a system and method for sharing playlists,wherein the playlists are communicated to, stored in, and displayed uponplayer devices other than general purpose computers. It is alsodesirable to provide a method for identifying playlists that are likelyto contain selections that will be enjoyed by a user.

SUMMARY

While the apparatus and method has or will be described for the sake ofgrammatical fluidity with functional explanations, it is to be expresslyunderstood that the claims, unless expressly formulated under 35 USC112, are not to be construed as necessarily limited in any way by theconstruction of “means” or “steps” limitations, but are to be accordedthe full scope of the meaning and equivalents of the definition providedby the claims under the judicial doctrine of equivalents, and in thecase where the claims are expressly formulated under 35 USC 112 are tobe accorded full statutory equivalents under 35 USC 112.

The present invention specifically addresses and alleviates the abovementioned deficiencies associated with the prior art. More particularly,according to one aspect the present invention comprises a system forsharing playlists, wherein the system comprises a dedicated media playerthat is configured to receive a playlist and to display the playlist.Selections from the playlist may thus be chosen and played, as desired.

As used herein, a dedicated media player is defined as a media playerother than a general purpose computer. Further details on the use ofthis term and examples of dedicated media players are provided below.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a systemfor sharing playlists, wherein the system comprises a network and aplayer device. The player device typically comprises either a dedicatedmedia player or a remote control for a dedicated media player.

The player device is in communication with the network and the playerdevice is configured to receive a playlist, store the playlist, displaythe playlist, and play a selection from the playlist.

The network may comprise any desired type of network. Preferably, thenetwork comprises a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet.However, the network may alternatively comprise a local area network(LAN).

Player devices include music players, video players, and remote controlsfor music players and video players. More specific examples of playerdevices include MP3 players, cellular telephones, set top boxes, astereos, televisions, car stereos, video monitors, and video storageplayer devices, as well as remote controls for any of these devices. Oneexample of a video storage player device is TiVo (a trademark of TiVo,Inc.).

The player device may be a portable player device that is configured toreceive streaming audio. The player device may also be a non-portableplayer device that is configured to receive streaming audio and/or aremote control therefor.

The player device may comprise a network adapter, such as an Ethernetcard, to facilitate communication with a network. The player device maycomprise either a wired or wireless network adapter. Examples ofwireless network adapters include those that comply with the Bluetooth(a trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.) standard and those that comply withthe WiFi (a trademark of the WiFi Alliance) standard.

The player device preferably comprises an LCD display for displaying theplaylist. However, any other suitable type of display may similarly beutilized.

The player device is preferably configured to facilitate searching forplaylists. That is, the player device upon which the playlists arestored and displayed is preferably also capable of locating, requestingand retrieving playlists, preferably by merely pushing a button.

Alternatively, playlists may be located and requested via the use of ageneral purpose computer or the like. Playlists do not have to berequested by the same device that receives the playlist. For example, ageneral purpose computer may be used to request playlists that are thencommunicated from other general purpose computers or other dedicatedmedia players to the user's player device.

According to one aspect, the present invention comprises a server uponwhich a plurality of playlists is stored and the player device isconfigured to receive playlists from the server. Thus, the player devicemay participate in the network as a client according to a client/servermodel of the network.

According to another aspect, the present invention does not include aserver. Rather, the present invention comprises a plurality of otherplayer devices and/or general purpose computers upon which a pluralityof playlists are stored and the user's player device is configured toreceive playlists from the other player devices and/or general purposecomputers. Thus, the user's player device may participate in the networkas a peer according to a peer-to-peer model of the network.

Preferably, the player device is configured to store a plurality ofdifferent playlists. Thus, the user may select a particular playlistaccording to the user's location, whom the user is with, the type ofplayer device the selection is to be played upon, or the preference ofthe user based upon any objective or subjective criteria or merely basedupon a whim.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a playerdevice defined by a dedicated media player and/or a remote control forthe media player, wherein the player device comprises a receivingcircuit for receiving playlists and a display for displaying theplaylists.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a serverwithin which is stored a plurality of playlists. The server isconfigured to communicate the playlist to a player device that is not ageneral purpose computer.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a methodfor sharing playlists, wherein the method comprises communicating aplaylist to a player device comprising a dedicated media player and/or aremote control for the dedicated media player.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a methodfor sharing playlists, wherein the method comprises communicating aplaylist to a player device that is not a general purpose computer.

Preferably, the method comprises defining a user profile for a recipientof the playlist and matching that user profile to a user profile ofanother person, wherein the communicated playlist is the playlist of theother person.

The profile preferably includes the type of music listened to, at leastone artist, at least one selection, at least one instrument, at leastone record company, a region, a country, a state, a city, a school,and/or an ethnicity. Thus, a user may enhance the likelihood of findinga playlist that contains selections enjoyed by another person living inthe same city as the user and having the same ethnicity, for example.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a method ofdefining a playlist, wherein the method comprises defining a userprofile and the user profile is used to determine selections that may beenjoyed by a user.

The user profile is preferably compared to user profiles of others todetermine a match. Then, a playlist of the other person for which amatch was determined is communicated to the user and used to at leastpartially define a playlist for the user.

Optionally, the user profile is used to define a statistical aggregateof other users and the playlist is determined by the statisticalaggregate. Thus, the playlist represent an average of the selectionsenjoyed by a group of other people.

Optionally, the user profile comprises a list of selections enjoyed bythe user and a frequency of which these selections are played. Forexample, the user profile may comprise a list of selections enjoyed bythe user and a rating of the selections by the user.

The method optionally comprises defining a period of time and using theperiod of time to determine which selections were popular then. Theplaylist comprises at least some of these selections.

As one example, the method further comprises defining a playlist, whichcomprises at least some selections that were popular duringapproximately the last week. As a further example, the method furthercomprises defining a playlist, which comprises at least some selectionsthat were popular during approximately the last month. As yet a furtherexample, the method further comprises defining a playlist, whichcomprises at least some selections that were popular duringapproximately the last year.

Thus, a user may enhance the likelihood of finding a playlist thatcontains selections enjoyed by another person, wherein the selectionswere released within the last month, for example.

The playlist may optionally be edited to add or remove selectionstherefrom.

The user's playlist may optionally be updated by adding selections thathave been added to the playlist of another. Similarly, the user'splaylist may optionally be updated by removing selections that have beenremoved from the playlist of another. Such updating may optionally beperformed automatically.

Optionally, selections may automatically be added to a playlist whenthose selections are played in excess of a predetermined rate by theplayer. Similarly, selections may automatically be deleted from aplaylist when those selections are played less than a predetermined rateby the player.

Optionally, one or more selections on a playlist may be designated asprivate. Any selections on the playlist that are designated as privateare not shared with others.

Optionally, any selections on the playlist that are not compatible withthe player with which the playlist is associated are removed therefrom.Compatibility may be due to hardware limitations of the player. Forexample, an MP3 player may not be able to play other formats of audioand may not be able to play the audio tracks of a video selection (suchas a movie). Therefore, if such material is included in a playlist, itmay automatically be deleted therefrom. Optionally, such deletion mayrequire user approval.

Further, a music player may have limitations that the user desires to betaken into account when a playlist is made or updated. For example, aportable audio player may not be able to adequately reproduce basssounds. Thus, a user may prefer that a playlist for that device notcontain selections for which good base reproduction is considered to bedesirable. Therefore, if such material is initially included in aplaylist, it may automatically be deleted therefrom. Optionally, suchdeletion may require user approval.

Further, the present invention may be configured so as to removeselections from a playlist that are not considered by the user to becompatible with the location. That is, some selections may not play welldo to ambient acoustics. Further, some selections may not be appropriatefor a given location. For example, selections that contain material thatis not considered by the user to be suitable for minors may be omittedfrom a player that is located in a family area.

Either individual selections or categories of selections may be removedfrom a playlist in the above described manner. Thus, an entire genre maybe removed from a playlist, if desired.

Optionally, one or more selections on a playlist may be designated aspreferred, so as to indicate that the selections are particularlyenjoyable for the user. Indeed, a user's playlist may contain only thoseselections that have been designated as preferred on the playlists ofothers.

According to the present invention, playlists may be made and used witha variety of different types of media players. For example, playlistscomprising audio selections such as music, speeches, comedy routines,and the like may be made and used with audio players. Similarly,playlists comprising movies, filmstrips, videos, and the like may bemade and used with video players.

Indeed, audio playlist may contain video selections and vice-versa. Asthose skilled in the art will appreciate, in some instances it may bedesirable to the play the audio tracks of a movie on an audio player andit may similarly be desirable to play songs (without any accompanyingvideo) on a video player. For example, it may be desirable to play thesoundtrack from a movie on an audio player.

The present invention is not limited to audio and video selection.According to the present invention, playlists of games, softwareapplications, or any other desired items or information might similarlybe made and used. For example, lists of nightclubs or restaurants thathave been enjoyed by others may be obtained by using profiles accordingto the present invention.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a methodfor managing media content on a network, wherein the method comprisesusing information about a user's previous playing to define a playlistand communicating the playlist to a player device other than a generalpurpose computer with which the playlist can be stored, displayed, andselections made for playing therefrom.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a methodfor defining a playlist, wherein the method comprises finding at leastone other person with similar tastes and communicating a list ofselections played by the other user to a player device other than ageneral purpose computer. The playlist may be updated by communicatingan updated list of selections played by the other person to the playerdevice.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a methodfor defining a playlist for a user, wherein the method comprises findingat least one other person with similar tastes by matching a profile ofthe user to a profile of the other person.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a datastructure comprising a playlist defined by a method comprisingcommunicating the playlist to a player device that is not a generalpurpose computer.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a datastructure comprising a playlist defined by a method comprising defininga user profile and using the user profile to determine selections thatmay be enjoyed by a user.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a computerreadable media having stored thereon a data structure comprising aplaylist defined by a method comprising communicating the playlist to aplayer device that is not a general purpose computer.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a computerreadable media having stored thereon a data structure comprising aplaylist defined by a method comprising defining a user profile andusing the user profile to determine selections that may be enjoyed by auser.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a computerreadable media having stored thereon a method for defining a playlist,wherein the method comprises communicating the playlist to a playerdevice that is not a general purpose computer.

According to another aspect, the present invention comprises a computerreadable media having stored thereon a method for defining a playlist,wherein the method comprises defining a user profile and using the userprofile to determine selections that may be enjoyed by a user.

These, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will bemore apparent from the following description and drawings. It isunderstood that changes in the specific structure shown and describedmay be made within the scope of the claims, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understoodby turning to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments which are presented as illustrated examples of the inventiondefined in the claims. It is expressly understood that the invention asdefined by the claims may be broader than the illustrated embodimentsdescribed below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for sharing playlistsaccording to the present invention, wherein a server provides playlistto a dedicated media player and wherein the playlists have been obtainedfrom client computers or other devices;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another exemplary system for sharingplaylists according to the present invention, wherein a server providesplaylist to a remote control of a dedicated media player and wherein theplaylists have been obtained from client computers or other devices;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an exemplary method for obtainingplaylists, such as a method that may be practiced when using the systemsof FIG. 1 or FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another exemplary system for sharingplaylists according to the present invention, wherein a peer provides aplaylist to a dedicated media player without the use of a server;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another exemplary system for sharingplaylists according to the present invention, wherein a peer provides aplaylist to a remote control of a dedicated media player without the useof a server; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another exemplary method for obtainingplaylists, such as a method that may be practiced when using the systemsof FIG. 4 or FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustratedembodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and thatit should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by thefollowing claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that theelements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, itmust be expressly understood that the invention includes othercombinations of fewer, more or different elements, which are disclosedherein even when not initially claimed in such combinations.

The words used in this specification to describe the invention and itsvarious embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of theircommonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in thisspecification structure, material or acts beyond the scope of thecommonly defined meanings. Thus if an element can be understood in thecontext of this specification as including more than one meaning, thenits use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possiblemeanings supported by the specification and by the word itself.

The definitions of the words or elements of the following claimstherefore include not only the combination of elements which areliterally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts forperforming substantially the same function in substantially the same wayto obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is thereforecontemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements maybe made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a singleelement may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Althoughelements may be described above as acting in certain combinations andeven initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood thatone or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases beexcised from the combination and that the claimed combination may bedirected to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by aperson with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, areexpressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of theclaims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one withordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of thedefined elements.

The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specificallyillustrated and described above, what is conceptionally equivalent, whatcan be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates theessential idea of the invention.

Thus, the detailed description set forth below in connection with theappended drawings is intended as a description of the presentlypreferred embodiments of the invention and is not intended to representthe only forms in which the present invention may be constructed orutilized. The description sets forth the functions and the sequence ofsteps for constructing and operating the invention in connection withthe illustrated embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that thesame or equivalent functions may be accomplished by differentembodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spiritof the invention.

Although generally discussed herein as being applicable to music andmusic players, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the systemand method for sharing playlists of present invention is likewiseapplicable to video and video players, as well as games and gameplayers. Indeed, the system and method for sharing playlists of thepresent invention may find application in a wide variety of information,data, and software arenas. Thus, discussion herein as being applicableto music and music players is by way of example only, and not by way oflimitation.

The present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1-6, which depictpresently preferred embodiments thereof. Referring now to FIG. 1,according to one aspect the present invention comprises a server 11 uponwhich a plurality of playlists from a plurality of different users isstored.

Each client 13-16 may communicate a playlist to the server via anetwork, such as the Internet 12. The clients 13-16 may be generalpurpose computers or may be devices other than general purposecomputers. The clients 13-16 may be any combination of general purposecomputers and devices other than general purpose computers. Thus, theclients 13-16 may be dedicated media players that are networkcompatible.

For example, the clients 13-16 may be dedicated music players that areconfigured according to the present invention so as to communicate withthe Internet. In this instance, the clients are not general purposecomputers. That is, their primary purpose is that of playing music andnot of running a wide variety of different types of applicationsprograms, such as is the case with general purpose computers.

As used herein, the term “dedicated” indicates the primary function of adevice and the device typically does not perform any other of thefunctions that a general purpose computer may perform, such as wordprocessing, general data base management and general Internet browsing.However, it is contemplated the a dedicated device may perform some suchfunctions and still remain a dedicated device in the same sense thatsome cellular telephones facilitate some degree of general purposecomputer functionality, such as limited Internet browsing and email, yetthey remain primarily telephones and not general purpose computers.

Thus, examples of dedicated media players include music players such asMP3 players, video players such as set top boxes, video recordingdevices such as TiVo and game players such as X-Box (a trademark ofMicrosoft Corporation) and PlayStation (a trademark of Sony ComputerEquipment, Inc.).

According to one aspect of the present invention, playlists arecommunicated via the network to a dedicated media player 17 and thededicated media player 17 is not a general purpose computer. Accordingto another aspect of the present invention, the media player 17 may be ageneral purpose computer and playlist are obtained by matching userprofiles, as discussed in detail below.

After the playlist has been communicated to the dedicated media player17, the playlist may be displayed thereon and thus used to choose whichselection therefrom is to be played.

Referring now to FIG. 2, rather than communicating a playlist to thededicated media player 17, the playlist may alternatively becommunicated to a remote control 18 for the dedicated media player.

After the playlist has been communicated to the remote control 18, theplaylist may be displayed thereon and thus used to choose whichselection therefrom is to be played by the dedicated media player 17.

Optionally, playlists that were communicated to the dedicated mediaplayer 17 (as shown in FIG. 1) may be further communicated to a remotecontrol therefore. This communication may be from the dedicated mediaplayer 17 or from any other source (such as from the server 11 via theInternet 12).

Similarly, playlists that were communicated to the remote control 18 (asshown in FIG. 2) may be further communicated to the dedicated mediaplayer 17 associated therewith. This communication may be from theremote control 18 or from any other source (such as from the server 11via the Internet 12).

Thus, playlists may be stored in, displayed upon, and used to makeselections from either the dedicated media player 17, the remote control18, or both.

Of course, in some instances the dedicated media player 17 will not havea remote control. For example, portable media players, such as MP3players, will not typically have a remote control. In such instances,the playlist is generally communicated only to the dedicated mediaplayer 17 itself. In any instance, other devices, including bothdedicated devices and general purpose computers, may receive additionalcopies of the playlists.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a user preferably fills out a questionnaire soas to define a user profile as shown in block 31. The user profilecontains information that will facilitate matching of the user toanother user having similar tastes and interests, as discussed above.

The user's profile is communicated to a server (such as server 11 ofFIGS. 1 and 2), as shown in block 32. At the server, the user's profileis compared to the profiles of other users as shown in block 33. Anattempt is made to match the user's profile to the profile of one ormore other users, so as to identify other users having similar tastesand interests.

The playlists of one or more other users, whose profiles best match theuser's profile, are communicated to the user's device as shown in block34. Any desired method or algorithm for such matching may be used. Forexample, each time the responses to two questionnaires match, a numbercould be added to a score for that particular matching process. Thematching processes that result in the highest scores could be consideredclose enough matches to cause a playlist to be sent. Alternatively, anymatching process that result in a score that exceeds a predeterminedthreshold value may be considered a match.

Optionally, the responses could be weighted such that some responsescontribute more to the matching score than other responses. For example,it may be desirable to have matches for selections, artists, or stylecount more than matches for location or time.

The user's device may be, for example, the dedicated media player 17 ofFIGS. 1 and 2 or may alternatively be the remote control 18 for FIG. 2.The playlist may be communicated to both the dedicated media player 17and the remote control 18, as discussed above.

Both FIGS. 1 and 2 show an exemplary use of the present invention in aclient/server network. However, the present invention may also be usedin a peer-to-peer network, as discussed below.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a plurality of clients 43-46 communicates via anetwork, such as the Internet 42, with a dedicated media player 47. Asbefore, the clients 43-46 may be either general purpose computers ordevices other than general purpose computers.

Since there is no server in this instance, the dedicated player 47 mustcommunicate with the clients 43-46 on a peer-to-peer basis. For example,the user's profile may be communicated to each of the clients 43-46 andwhen a match is found, the playlist of the client is communicated backto the user's dedicated media player 47, as shown in FIG. 4.

Alternatively, the dedicated media player 47 may poll each of aplurality of different clients to request their user profiles. Thededicated media player 47 may perform a comparison of the user profiles.Then, the playlists associated with the best matches of the user'sprofile to the profile of the clients 43-46 are requested andcommunicated to the dedicated media player.

Referring now to FIG. 5, rather than communicating a playlist to thededicated media player 47, the playlist may alternatively becommunicated to a remote control 48 for the dedicated media player.Thus, the clients 43-46 may communicate their user profiles to theremove control 48, where the comparison is performed and where playlistsmay be stored and used. As before, playlists may subsequently beforwarded to another device, such as the dedicated media player 47.

After the playlist has been communicated to the remote control 48, theplaylist may be displayed thereon and thus used to choose whichselection therefrom is to be played.

As before, playlists that were communicated to the dedicated mediaplayer 47 (as shown in FIG. 4) may optionally be further communicated toa remote control therefore. This communication may be from the dedicatedmedia player 47 or from any other source (such as from one of theclients 43-46 via the Internet 42).

Similarly, playlists that were communicated to the remote control 48 (asshown in FIG. 5) may be further communicated to the dedicated mediaplayer 47 associated therewith. This communication may be from theremote control 48 or from any other source (such as from one of theclients 43-46 via the Internet 12).

Referring now to FIG. 6, one example of how a user's profile may be usedto obtain playlists is shown. In a peer-to-peer network, such as thoseshown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a user again fills out a questionnaire as shownin block 61. However, this time the questionnaire is communicated to apeer as shown in block 62. The user's profile is compared to otherprofiles stored in the peer, as shown in block 63.

The process is continued until at least one match is found, as shown inblock 65. The process may be continued until any desired number ofmatches are found or until it is determined that further searching isnot likely to result in matches.

When it is desirable to continue the searching process, another peer isidentified as shown in block 66 and the user's profile is compared tothe other profiles as shown in block 63.

Thus, one or more playlists, corresponding to those profiles that bestmatch the user's profile, are communicated to the user's device as shownin block 67.

The present invention provides the ability for non-computer devices todisplay and play playlists from a central computer running on theInternet. These playlists can be created on one device and shared orsent to another device immediately for playing.

People in the community can be found by comparing listing habits of thecommunity. Once people are found in the community to have similartastes, playlist can then be shared between the users and then played ontheir own personal playing devices in real time.

Thus, the present invention provides a system and method for sharingplaylists, wherein the playlists are communicated to, stored in, anddisplayed upon player devices other than general purpose computers. Thepresent invention also provides a method for identifying playlists thatare likely to contain selections that will be enjoyed by a user.

It is understood that the exemplary system and method for sharingplaylists described herein and shown in the drawings represents onlypresently preferred embodiments of the invention. Indeed, variousmodifications and additions may be made to such embodiments Thus,various modifications and additions may be obvious to those skilled inthe art and may be implemented to adapt the present invention for use ina variety of different applications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: communicating a playlist from a first media player device to a wireless handheld remote control associated with and separate from the first media player device, the playlist having been received from a remote source; receiving, from the wireless handheld remote control, at least one item identifier included in the playlist; and rendering, by the first media player device, at least one item identified by the at least one item identifier.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a playlist from a first media player device to a wireless handheld remote control comprises communicating the playlist from at least one of a set top box, a stereo receiver, a digital video recorder, an MP3 player, a game console, and a telephone.
 3. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving the playlist by the first media player device from a content server.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving the playlist by the first media player device from a second media player device.
 5. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving the playlist by the first media player device via at least one of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and the Internet.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a playlist from a first media player device to a wireless handheld remote control comprises communicating the playlist via a LAN.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating a playlist from a first media player device to a wireless handheld remote control comprises communicating the playlist via a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering the at least one item further comprises at least one of downloading, from the remote source, the at least one item and streaming, from the remote source, the at least one item.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, on the first media player device, the playlist.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the playlist further comprises a second item identifier that identifies a second item, and further comprising: receiving, by the first media player device, user input selecting the second item identifier; and rendering, by the first media player device, the second item.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving input from a user; based on the input, searching for the playlist on the remote source; and requesting the playlist from the remote source.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically updating the playlist at the first media player device in response to a change made to the playlist by a user of the wireless handheld remote control.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparing, by the first media player device, each of a plurality of user profiles with a target user profile of a first user associated with the first media player device; selecting, by the first media player device, a matching user profile from the plurality of user profiles; selecting a playlist of a matching user associated with the matching user profile, wherein a plurality of playlists including the selected playlist is stored by at least one server, each of the plurality of playlists is a playlist of one of a plurality of users including the matching user, and each of the plurality of users is associated with one of the plurality of user profiles; and requesting, by the first media player device, delivery of the selected playlist of the matching user from the remote source.
 14. A media player device comprising: a communication interface communicatively coupling the media player device to a remote source via a network; and a control system associated with the communication interface and adapted to: communicate a playlist to a wireless handheld remote control associated with and separate from the media player device, the playlist having been received from a remote source; receive, from the wireless handheld remote control, at least one item identifier included in the playlist; and render at least one item identified by the at least one item identifier.
 15. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the media player device comprises at least one of a set top box, a stereo receiver, a digital video recorder, an MP3 player, a game console, and a telephone.
 16. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the control system is further adapted to display, on the media player device, the playlist.
 17. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the remote source comprises at least one of a content server and a second media player device.
 18. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the first media player device is communicatively coupled to the remote source via at least one of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and the Internet.
 19. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the first media player device is communicatively coupled to the wireless handheld remote control via a LAN.
 20. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the first media player device communicates with the wireless handheld remote control via a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
 21. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the first media player device is adapted to download the at least one item from the remote source.
 22. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the first media player device is adapted to stream the at least one item from the remote source.
 23. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the first media player device is adapted to display the playlist.
 24. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the playlist further comprises a second item identifier that identifies a second item, and wherein the control system is further adapted to: receive user input selecting the second item identifier; and render the second item.
 25. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the control system is further adapted to: receive input from a user; based on the input, search for the playlist on the remote source; and request the playlist from the remote source.
 26. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the control system is further adapted to automatically update the playlist at the media player device in response to a change made to the playlist by a user of the wireless handheld remote control.
 27. The media player device of claim 14, wherein the control system is further adapted to: compare each of a plurality of user profiles with a target user profile of a first user associated with the media player device; select a matching user profile from the plurality of user profiles; select a playlist of a matching user associated with the matching user profile, wherein a plurality of playlists including the selected playlist are stored by at least one server, each of the plurality of playlists is a playlist of one of a plurality of users including the matching user, and each of the plurality of users is associated with one of the plurality of user profiles; and request delivery of the selected playlist of the matching user from the remote source.
 28. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and including instructions configured to cause a processor to carry out the steps of: communicating a playlist from a first media player device to a wireless handheld remote control associated with and separate from the first media player device, the playlist having been received from a remote source; receiving, from the wireless handheld remote control, at least one item identifier included in the playlist; and rendering, by the first media player device, at least one item identified by the at least one item identifier. 